Music legends Tripod return to The Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 5th August to celebrate 20 years of crimes against comedy with a random selection of songs, chosen by the audience from arguably the stupidest songbook ever invented. ‘Tripod : 101 Hits’ showcases the innovative idea of using a bingo barrel to form the playlist of the night, with the number drawn representing a song from an actual physical printed ‘Tripod : 101 Hits’ songbook. Yes folks, sheet music is the new vinyl!
The concept is sure to keep the band and audience on their toes and guarantees a hilarious, chaotic and occasionally nail biting evening.
Speaking to Steven Gates aka ‘Gatesy’ recently, he was full of praise for The Tanks Arts Centre and excited to be returning to Far North Queensland.
“It’s one of the great venues in Australia. Although I did say that last week about the Royal Theatre in Hobart (laughter), but I will say it is in the top two venues in Australia. It’s got a great Green Room and they bring you beer which always helps”.
It’s hard to believe that this incredibly talented trio of comedians/musicians first came to public attention close to 20 years ago after performing an Oasis parody on ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ Red Faces segment.
“We’ve never had a plan so maybe that’s the secret to longevity. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years”.
Celebrating 2 decades, the ‘Tripod : 101 Hits’ showcases the innovative idea of using a bingo barrel to form the set list of the entire evening. The unpredictable environment for the performers and audience creates a hilarious, chaotic and occasionally nail biting tour through a random selection of their finest work.
“We made a songbook of 101 Tripod songs that we did via a google vote and for the live show we’ve got a bingo barrel with 101 numbered balls in it. So we’re generating the set list for the show from the bingo. It makes every show different and keeps us on our toes, and I think the audience appreciate that more because we’re not trotting out the same show every night.”
Often overlooked are the musical talents of Gatesy, Scod and Yon. Take a closer listen and you will discover the three are all extremely talented musicians. With a bag of tricks including 3 part harmonies and daring arrangements, the band stand tall along other ‘non comedy’ acts. For musicians they’re funny, for comedians they sure can sing. In the early years they did question the direction of their music and whether the comedy element was right.
“It’s often been the case that our parents would say ‘we’d love to hear you sing some normal music (laughter) or serious music so to say. We put so much effort into the music side but people are generally concentrating on the lyrical part, so the music doesn’t get as much appreciation.”
“Around 2000/2001 I was in a normal rock band so to speak that I really wanted to peruse. But being in comedy, you generally take the piss out of everything that’s contemporary. So I really started to ask with my normal band, was ‘who really cares how I think?’ I just wasn’t getting into it. So I think rightly or wrongly Tripod did sabotage that world for me”.
Recently receiving rave reviews for their show ‘This Gaming Life’ where they performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Gatesy described the experience of performing with an Orchestra as “the highlight of our career”.
“ It was definitely the most challenging but rewarding thing we’ve ever done. We’ve got some of them songs in the songbook so trying to replicate an orchestra live is pretty hard!”
Tripod : 101 Hits at The Tanks Arts Centre (Cairns) on Friday 5th August. Doors open 7pm. Show starts 8pm. Tickets from Ticketlink.
Tripod : 101 Hits at Kirwan Tavern (Townsville) on Sat 6th August from 7.30pm. Tickets from Moshtix.
Mitch Sullivan
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